The women’s volleyball team finished its 2024 campaign on the road against the Army Black Knights, losing in straight sets for the 15th time this season.
“It was definitely a bittersweet energy for the seniors, but they really wanted to come out and just have a memorable time for the last game,” sophomore outside hitter Emma Patmon said. “Regardless of the outcome, they want to just go out and just put all of it out there.”
Patmon led the attack in the first set, as the Leopards (2-14 Patriot League, 7-18 overall) split the first eight points with the hosts. Errors from the Black Knights (10-6 Patriot League, 15-11 overall) and capitalization from the Maroon and White created a 9-7 lead.
As has been the story throughout the season, the Leopards struggled with ceding scoring runs to the opponent, as the Black Knights went on a 6-0 run to steal the momentum. While the Leopards clawed back into the set, Army strung together a 5-0 run to close the set out 25-18.
Army maintained its momentum with a 4-0 start to the second set, as the Leopards never even sniffed a lead in the Black Knights’ wire-to-wire set victory.
The Leopards suffered from déjà vu in the third set, as Army again took a 4-0 lead en route to another wire-to-wire set victory, winning 25-13 to end the Leopards’ season.
Following a tumultuous season and the departure of the senior class, the team is looking towards the future.
“I’m very, very motivated to push the underclassmen to come up and just to build our culture over the spring and to build a winning mindset,” Patmon said.
She said that many of the freshmen got quality time on the court, which helped them get adjusted to the collegiate game, but it will be up to the new upperclassmen to help the team develop moving forward.
“They are very excited as well to grow in these leadership opportunities for the freshmen coming up,” Patmon said. “They just want to build and have a really big impact on the incoming freshmen.”
She noted that the Maroon and White are hungry to go back “into the lab” and prepare for another season to come.
“We’re just also so driven and have a little chip on our shoulder, just something to prove for next season,” she said.
Several volleyball players did not respond to requests for comment or declined to comment.